


Trapped

by Jevil_Joss



Category: RWBY
Genre: A character is a cannibal though this doesn't come up often, Denial, F/F, PTSD nightmares, Parallel Universes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:01:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22276771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jevil_Joss/pseuds/Jevil_Joss
Summary: Team CFVY finds itself trapped in the Void between worlds. And they're not alone.
Relationships: Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee, Velvet Scarlatina/Coco Adel
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Coco Adel was actually the best driver out of team CFVY. She never ran red lights, and only went slightly above the speed limit. So she ran through what had happened once more in her head. 

They'd followed the criminals. The car chase continued. A weird purple light lit up in front of them. They crashed into a snowbank. 

Her vision swam as she opened the door and fell out of the car. The crash had cut her face wide open, blood dripping across her broken sunglasses as she landed on snow. In a blizzard. With clouds so thick she couldn't see the sun. She could barely see the snow beneath her. Then she fell over, onto her back, dizzy. Pain. She should be in pain right now. Why wasn't she?

A figure stepped over her. Yatsuhashi? Yes, it was him. "Yo," she said, her voice slurred. "I...I think I'm just gonna lie down here for a bit..."

"Coco!" His voice sounded distant. Like he was shouting from across the street. In a rainstorm. "Stay with me, Coco!"

"I am with you," she said, reaching up and taking his arm. Or trying. She couldn't seem to get a grip on his hand, and her arm collapsed into the snow. Coco briefly wondered if she should be worried about that. She looked up at Fox and Velvet, her other teammates. _Her_ team. _Her_ friends. She smiled at them. For some reason, Velvet was covering her mouth, crying. A lot. Why was she crying? Coco wanted to say something to make her happy, but couldn't seem to find the words. 

_When...I wake up..._

Yatsu was waving at someone. Shouting. She couldn't tell what. Her last conscious thought was seeing a figure in red armor striding out of the blizzard. 

She was warm. A fuzzy blanket had been wrapped around her. She was seated on a couch. As her eyes opened, she saw a brick fireplace in front of her, a large fire crackling. She heard wind howling. 

Velvet was crying against Coco's chest. _Shit._ How long had she been out? "Where the hell are my glasses?" she asked. Not too harshly, otherwise she'd upset Velvet even more. 

Velvet looked up at her, still crying. "Coco! You're alright!"

"It'll take more than that to kill me," Coco grinned. That hurt her face, so she stopped. "What exactly does my face look like right now?"

"From what I've heard, bad," Fox said. He had one hand against a wall, seemingly in concentration. "They're still out there."

"What are?" Coco asked, sitting up. She felt good enough to sit up, somehow, and survey the rest of the room. A small square, with two doors, on parallel sides. A window sat by each door, and the first one stared right back into the blizzard. The window was on the same side as the fireplace, and the tall armored figure poking the burning logs with a poker. 

Coco sat up, alert and aware. The figure was slightly shorter than she was, decked out in crimson and black armor, with a tattered hood, full of holes. A steel bow sat across her back, with a quiver full of arrows. She wore a metal skirt, and a helmet with a visor. Coco looked at the figure's chest, and thought, _Yeah, it's a she._

"You are in one of our cabins," the figure said, answering her question and snapping her out of her reverie. The knight looked at her. "We set up a few, to look for people who get caught in the blizzard."

"Well, thanks for the help," Coco said, stunned. She reached up and felt her face. She touched her forehead, feeling a scab. She traced the scab down across her face, over her cheek, to her chin. "How long was I unconscious?"

"Ten minutes," Yatsu said. Good reliable Yatsu. He sat in a large plush chair. There were four chairs, in addition to the one Coco reclined on. 

Wait. "Ten minutes? This wound looks like its been healing for weeks!"

"Guys, there really is something out there," Fox said. 

"Just void wraiths," the knight said, walking around and sitting in a chair herself. "They don't leave the blizzard. It's fine."

"Where are we?" Coco demanded. "What the hell is a void wraith? And again, where in the Brother's names are my gods-dammed shades?"

The knight took the sunglasses off a nearby table. "These?"

"Yes." The knight leaned forward and handed Coco the glasses. But one of the lenses had shattered, and its earpiece had broken. Coco grimaced, holding the remains of her sunglasses tightly. "I took them off to let your wound heal," the knight continued. "But they appear to be broken."

"Ya think?" Coco snapped.

The knight took off her helmet. Coco was suddenly staring face to face with Ruby Rose. 

Coco didn't know the silver-eyed girl well. But her presence made the entire situation more complicated. "I can answer your other two questions, but please. Keep your voice level. They are just glass."

"Sorry," Coco mumbled, looking away. "What are you doing here, Ruby? And where is here?"

"How do you know my name?" Ruby asked, frowning. She cocked her head. Her hair fell slightly to the side, revealing a scar situated by her ear. One that Ruby didn't have. "Oh. I see." She smiled. "Welcome to the Void."

A stunned silence fell over the room. "Where?" Fox asked. 

Ruby frowned, looking at him. "The Void. You know, the Void between worlds? In between dimensions? The place that you never go to when World-Hopping?"

"In between...worlds," Coco said flatly. 

"There's more than one dimension?" Velvet exclaimed. 

"You don't know?" Ruby's frown deepened, and she stroked her chin. Another scar sat on her chin. Now that Coco looked, she had a lot of scars. Another one, right above her right eye. And...

She was using her right hand. But Ruby was left handed. 

"You said other dimensions," Coco said slowly. "Are you...from another dimension?"

"You know Ruby from your dimension," Ruby answered slowly. "I am the Ruby Rose from another dimension."

"A parallel version?" Velvet asked. 

"Some people do say that, yes," Ruby replied, leaning back in her chair. "But not me. I am just another Ruby. What are your names?"

"Fox Alistair."

"Yatsuhashi Daichi."

"Coco Adel. And this is Velvet Scarlatina." Velvet waved. Coco swung her legs off the chair, then stood up, stretching. Her muscles felt like rubber...that wasn't a good sign. 

"This place, however, isn't a dimension," Ruby said. "Like hallways are the space between rooms of a house, this is the place between worlds. Again, welcome to the Void. You are nowhere and everywhere." Coco walked over and looked out the other window. Various other wooden cabins sat in a row, built on top of snow. A massive ice building stood at the end of what looked like a street. The sky was clear, but black. No stars hung in the sky, except for three, massive purple suns.

"I think," Coco said as Velvet and Yatsu joined her, "that someone gave me some powerful drugs that are starting to kick into effect."


	2. Chapter 2

A million questions were going through Velvet's head a second. She stumbled back from the window, staring up at the three suns in the sky. "How...we were just in a car...how did we get...here?"

"This is one hell of a dream," Coco breathed quietly. 

"I don't know what you guys are talking about, but I'm still concerned about the 'void wraiths' you just kinda glossed over there," Fox said. 

"The Mayor is generally the one who handles these kind of questions," Ruby replied, rubbing her forehead. "I can take you to her house, she can answer all your questions."

"Mayor?"

"From what we've seen, it's very hard to end up in the Void," Ruby explained. "But enough people end up here over the years so that we built a little town. The Mayor--she's the first one of us to end up here. She often goes around, talking to people who she thinks need help." 

"I..." Velvet stumbled backwards, up against a wall. "What's going on? How did we get here? What the hell happened to us?"

"Calm down, girl," Ruby growled, standing up. "Follow me. I'll take you to see the Mayor. She'll sort you out." She strode towards the second door, out into the rows of buildings, and opened it. She turned and looked over the four members of Team CFVY. "Come on," she said before walking out the door. 

Velvet looked around. "This is...this is insane."

"I think I might be unconscious," Coco said slowly. "Hmm. Not exactly a pleasant thought." She then followed Ruby out the door. 

"Coco doesn't seem like she's okay," Velvet said. 

"She seems to be in denial," Yatsu replied. Looking out the window, towards where Ruby impatiently waited, he added, "Not that I blame her. This is pretty hard to believe. Suddenly we're in the Void between worlds? It has three suns? _They're purple?_ " He shook his head. "The town's mayor should be able to fill us in on the specifics we want to know about. Let's go talk to her." 

Velvet nodded, and the three followed the knight. 

Outside, the world was bathed in a soft, violet light. Ruby looked back into the cabin, and into the blizzard. Neither shared the lighting. "Why is the inside of the town purple, but in that cabin and out in the blizzard, everything looks normal?"

"Light doesn't work properly here," Ruby answered. "Nothing does." They passed multiple inhabitants of the town, many of whom looked human, but several obviously weren't. One that was just a giant cloud of tentacles. One that was seven foot tall, furry, with large, canine teeth. One that was a giant fruit leather with arms and legs. Everyone appeared to be...walking around. Several had carts out, with large, multicolored fruit on them. 

"How's it going, Sir Rose?" one of the fruit vendors called out. He looked at CFVY. "Eh? New faces round here?"

"The faces aren't knew, it's the people behind them," Ruby called back. "I'm taking 'em to see the Mayor."

"Well, then, can't let them go hungry," the vendor cried. He tossed one of the fruit to Velvet, who caught it. It was incredibly dense, but she managed to avoid dropping it. "Good gods, this thing's heavy."

"Go on! Try it!" came the reply. "None of us need to eat 'round here, but for those of us that like to, that's all there is. Just the dream fruit."

"Why are they called that?" Velvet asked. 

"How much?" Coco added, fetching her bag. 

"No, no. I don't have any need for money. What would I buy with it? Empty space?" The vendor--though Velvet doubted she could call him that anymore--laughed. "No, no. I pluck 'em from the trees and hand 'em out to any who want them." He passed one to someone who walked past, and the other person nodded in thanks. "And as for why they're called that..."

"Is it because this reality is nothing more than a willful manifestation of my subconscious?" Coco asked, still smiling. 

"I was gonna say, 'it's hard to explain', but, seriously, where did that come from?" 

Ruby smiled, picking up one of the fruit. "She's in denial." 

The other four started walking off, but Velvet stopped. She turned, and looked in between two of the buildings on the 'street'--right behind the vendor. A figure in a dark cloak. Hefting the fruit, Velvet started towards the figure. "Hello there."

The figure turned and ran. Now confused, Velvet took off after them, breaking into a run. The shadowy figure leapt over a fence, into someone's yard. She grabbed a tree and used it to pull a ninety-degree turn as she continued running. Velvet ran around the fence, slowing just slightly as she rounded a corner. "Wait up!" she called out. 

The figure pushed through a crowd, knocking over two vaguely humanoid creatures. Velvet jumped over them, shouting, "Sorry!" The pursuit continued, and the figure left the rows of houses, out into a long stretch of snow. Velvet, now intrigued, followed her, right to the edge of the blizzard. 

It was truly a majestic sight. The snowstorm swirled and spun around, until it just stopped, as if pushing up against an invisible wall. The figure stopped just shy of the blizzard, collapsing onto their knees. 

"Hey," Velvet said, walking over. 

"Stop," the figure said. Velvet obeyed. "You're not my Velvet. You don't know me. You don't know me. You're not her. You're not my..."

"Pyrrha?" Velvet asked. "Are...you okay?" 

A sob sounded from Pyrrha. She began shaking. Velvet sat down next to her, dropping the dream fruit onto the snow. "Hey, hey, hey. What's wrong?" She paused. "I think I know what's wrong, actually. You're stuck here too, aren't you? Everybody is."

Pyrrha looked at Velvet. It was then that it hit her that it wasn't the Pyrrha from her world--just as 'Sir Rose' wasn't the Ruby from her world, this was a different Pyrrha. She still wore the same armor as always, but the skirt came down to the ground as a dress. Her hair was kept short. And the top corner of her face was covered in a white Grimm mask that was growing out of her skin. It covered one of Pyrrha's eyes, two small slits allowing Velvet to see Pyrrha's green eye, crying. Of course, Pyrrha was crying out her other eye as well. 

"You're not my Velvet," she repeated. "No...no you're not."

"I'm sorry," Velvet said, though she wasn't quite sure what she was apologizing for. Pyrrha sobbed again, turning away. "Do you want to talk about it?" Velvet said, resisting the urge to pull out her camera. 

Pyrrha collapsed against a surprised Velvet, still crying. "It's not just that I'm stuck here, away from my home. It's...I've been away from my family for five years now. My parents, my sister, and..." Her voice cracked. "...my Velvet."

"And you wish she was here with you," Velvet realized. 

"No! Cause then you'd be stuck here, too! Stuck here, away from your family, with this damn hunger!" As if in response to her words, Pyrrha's stomach growled, and she doubled over. 

"Are you hungry?" Velvet asked. It seemed odd, considering she'd just been told that you couldn't get hungry here. With a grunt, she put the dream fruit on Pyrrha's lap. "You want this thing?"

She'd only been trying to be nice. For some reason, Pyrrha started crying more. "I can't eat that."

"Um...sorry." Velvet, with effort, shoved the fruit aside. "The guy I just talked to said there wasn't anything else to eat. Is there something I can get you?"

Pyrrha lay her head in an increasingly uncomfortable Velvet's lap. Velvet blushed. Pyrrha smiled, if only for a second. "What is it that you eat?" Velvet asked again. 

"What races exist in your world?"

"Races...you mean, like humans and faunus?" Velvet asked, wriggling her bunny ears. Pyrrha eyed the ears suspiciously. 

"Well, on my world, it's humans and Grimm," Pyrrha said. "I'm a Grimm."

"You're not like the Grimm I know of," Velvet said. 

"Cause I'm not like the Grimm from your world. I'm a different kind of Grimm." She looked away. 

"Oh. So a different diet, then? What do you eat?"

"Human flesh."

A chill went through Velvet. "I'm sorry?"

"The only thing my body has ever been capable of digesting is human flesh," Pyrrha said quietly. "I went through my life, only eating people that had died--digging up graves, finding where people jumped off a cliff..." She trailed off. "The hunger, for some reason, didn't leave me when I came here. It left everyone else, but not me. But I'm the one person who can't get the food I need." She lay face-down in Velvet's lap. Velvet had paled, all color draining from her face. 

"Okay," she said. "I actually can't help you there." A thought occurred to her. She looked up, realizing that the others had gone on without her. "Oh no."

"What?"

"I was supposed to go to the Mayor's house," Velvet said. "For some sort of orientation thing, I guess. But...I don't know the way..."

"I'll take you." Pyrrha stood up, picking up the fruit(with noticeable ease) and extending a hand to Velvet. "I'll bring you there."

Velvet took the hand. "Thanks." Pyrrha smiled at her, then looked away, blushing. "This way."


	3. Chapter 3

The Mayor's house was the one made of ice, Coco realized. Ruby walked right up and opened the door. 

The inside was like any other house, with wood dressers and walls. Coco wondered why the walls were wood inside when they had been ice outside. Perk of design or inconsistency of her mind? She'd never been the most consistent individual. Perhaps that was showing now in her...her what? Dying moments? Was she dying in the car crash? She couldn't tell. She didn't feel like she was dying--but the cut on her face had been a mortal wound. Now, the scab had come off some time ago, and she didn't know when. A mirror hung on a wall, and as she looked in it, she couldn't even see the trace of the wound. 

Perhaps that had been the wound that was killing her. Because this--this wasn't real. It couldn't be real. 

"Shade-girl," Ruby growled. She had a rougher, drier voice than the Ruby she'd known. She nodded to a door. "Coco, was it? Come in. The Mayor's in here."

A bear head was pinned to a wall. Another brick fireplace sat in this room--Coco had seen one in her uncle's house when she was young, and had long been impressed with it. Was that why she was seeing so many here? A strange apparatus sat on top of it--two pendulums swinging in circles around a metal rod, with a rhythmic pattern-- _thud. Click. Thud. Click._

The center of the room was occupied by a desk, another Ruby sat behind it, wearing a thick, unbuttoned fur coat and a sweatshirt. She wore pajamas and a scarf, with a cigarette in her teeth. She had her feet on the desk, and was polishing a shotgun. Behind her stood Weiss, wearing a suit of white and blue armor, with a sheathed broadsword at her side. In a chair off to the side was...no, it wasn't Ruby. A nose just slightly off, hairstyle wrong, with smaller eyes. She wore almost the same outfit, and had a crossbow sitting next to her. 

"Don't you know how to knock?" the Ruby behind the desk asked in a low, accented voice. 

"Sorry, Mayor," Ruby answered. "These people are new here--they just arrived fifteen minutes ago." 

The Mayor looked at her, then turned and glared at the third Ruby--Coco was beginning to question her opinions of the young, foolhardy girl. Why was she seeing so many of her in what she assumed to be her dying moments? "Hear that, Sylvia?" she growled. "That means we are out of housing wood."

Ruby pursed her lips, looking at 'Sylvia', then turning to Weiss. "Did she do it again?" 

"Do what?" Yatsu asked. 

"Sylvia is an interdimensional traveler," Weiss answered. "She's been here two weeks, and has attempted to simply travel out six times. Resulting in six explosions. Each one destroying the house we built her. You can't travel out of here by normal means."

Ruby stepped over by Weiss, then leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Missed you."

"And I, you," Weiss answered curtly. 

" _Lisus Khristos_ , save the marital stuff for when yer alone," the Mayor said, shaking her head. "Sylvia, you've messed up big time."

"I just want to get out!" Sylvia exclaimed, thrusting her hands into the air. 

"But you can't," the Mayor said, taking her cigarette out and pointing it at Sylvia. "You're stuck here. And your trying to leave is only causing problems--now your officially out of nests, _malen'kaya ptitsa_ _._ "

Sylvia slumped back against her chair. "And exactly how long did you spend trying to get out of here?"

"I realized early on that me and my Sister were stuck here," the Mayor said. "Forever. There is no way out. You can't die. You heal past all wounds. But sleeping on the ground is going to be uncomfortable, _mechtatel_ _._ We're running out of wood to build a house for these three--"

"Three?" Ruby looked at them in alarm. "Fox, Yatsuhashi, Coco--where's the bunny?"

" _C_ _hert poberi,_ " the Mayor muttered. "There are four?"

"Here I am!" Velvet cried. "Sorry! I got distracted!" She ran into the room, panting. She was followed by Pyrrha. 

"I was wondering where you'd gotten off to, _golodnaya devushka,_ " the Mayor said, turning to Pyrrha. 

"What language is that you keep speaking?" Coco asked. 

"Russian," Ruby answered for the Mayor. "She reverts back to her native language whenever she's exceptionally stressed."

"Like I am right now, thanks to you," the Mayor growled with a pointed look at Sylvia. Sylvia flinched. The young girl seemed to be unused to confrontation. Sighing, the Mayor turned to look at the four members of Team CFVY. "Now then. I imagine you have lots of questions." She popped her cigarette back into her mouth and lay the shotgun down. "Fire away."

"What's a void wraith?" Fox asked immediately. 

"People are nothing more than bundles of memories, are they not?" the Mayor returned. "So. This Void--it isn't fully real. I mean, it's fine if you're standing around in the town, right? But if you walk out into the blizzard, you're body ceases to be real in the same way. That means you're just a floating bunch of memories-- _vospominaniya_ \--without an owner. If you're in there long enough, the memories leave the body behind. With no body to hold them still, it's just a consciousness floating around, memories floating away. Till they're just floating around, realizing they lost something but never remembering what." She opened a drawer and pulled out a flask full of whitish liquid and took a swig. " _Z_ _abyvchivyy_ _._ Forgetful." She sighed, shaking her head. "I've seen a few of them. They do little more than wonder around, repeating their names over and over, trying not to forget what little they have left. Trying to remind themselves of their _samosti._ Their selves, their being." She set down the flask. "But as sad as they are, they do try to leech your memories if you get within reach, and that ends up turning you into a void wraith."

"Okay," Fox said quietly. "Nice to know. Yaaay."

"Where did you get all this stuff?" Coco asked suddenly. She looked around. "It just occurred to me that this dream isn't playing by its own rules."

"The Void seldom does."

"Cause you have that dresser, the fireplace, the gun, a glass flask, that weird ticking apparatus--"

_Thud. Click._

"Where did you get all of it?"

"You got your whole car, didn't you?" the Mayor asked. "Well, this house is what I used to travel between dimensions. But...the machinery that did it was broken, and we ended up here instead of...where we were trying to go." Her eyes became unfocused for a second. "Anyway, what was I...ah, yes. This stuff was all in the house anyway. So it came with us."

"No one here can die," Pyrrha said quietly. She had moved and was leaning against a wall, beside the fireplace. "Whether by age or mortal wounds. People heal quickly. And anything fatal just knocks you out." After a quiet minute, with no sound but the apparatus besides her, she added, "You're stuck here forever. There is no way out. And you can't die."

"It isn't so bad," the Mayor hastily remedied. "I mean, we find ways to keep ourselves entertained. No one can die, and a few people discovered that you can't get pregnant, either, but there's still fun things we do." She glared at Sylvia and added with gritted teeth, "But keep in mind, _building houses is not one of those things,_ devushka."

Sylvia flinched again. "Sorry. I just...want to get home."

"What you need to do is give up," the Mayor sighed, standing up. She put the shotgun on a rack behind her. "Give up, _devushka._ Give up." She walked outside the room. "Ruby, would you and your wife give these four the help they need? I need to clear my head."

"Of course." Ruby stepped up beside them, her armor clinking softly. "The Mayor has been here longer than anyone else. Almost two thousand years. But human brains can't hold that much memory--and the Void won't let her forget it all. So sometimes she remembers some of, sometimes she doesn't." 

"But she always gives everyone the help they need. Even if she's a little stern...even if being stern is the help." Weiss's eyes flitted over to the slumped over Sylvia. "That is why she is the Mayor. She is not just a person in charge. She is the one who helps everyone."


	4. Chapter 4

The next thing to do was build them a house. "Since you're going to be living here, you're going to need a house," Weiss explained, leading them through the house and out into...a small grove of trees. Except that the trees all looked exactly the same, the branches in the exact same positions, the bark the same off-white color. The leaves were a dark green, and several branches(the same few branches each time) had dream fruit hanging from drooping branches. 

"These are our trees," Weiss explained. "They grow fairly fast, as Sylvia can verify." 

"I can indeed," Sylvia added. 

Weiss glared at the young girl, then continued. "We're going to chop down three to build you a house."

"You can't chop down trees with a bow and arrow," Velvet pointed out. 

Ruby gave her a pointed glare. "You can't, but we have an axe." She picked up a fire axe from the side of the house and hefted it. 

"An entire house out of three trees?" Coco asked incredulously. 

"It's a small house," Ruby admitted, giving the tree a first hit. The tree bended inwards like it was made of rubber--given what Velvet had seen so far, it wouldn't have surprised her. "Can't build them too big, because we only have limited room outside of the blizzard." She nodded to a pair of benches. "There's seating here, if you wish."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Velvet asked. 

"There's only one axe, and it would be best to keep you weapons sharp," Ruby advised. "You may end up fighting void wraiths, one way or another, and besides...not everyone who comes here is willing to settle in peacefully."

"What do you mean by that?"

"A couple of times," Ruby said, continuing to hack the tree, "people have come here and attacked. For various reasons. Some wanted this, others wanted this..." She shook her head. 

"How long have you been here?" Velvet asked, sitting on the bench besides Yatsu and Sylvia. Pyrrha, notably, did not sit, and stood as far from the benches as possible while still being within earshot. 

"Our little family arrived here almost...five decades ago." Weiss thought for a second. "Yeah. Fifty years sounds about right. Me, Ruby, and Ruby's sister, Yang."

"She works on the other end of the town, keeping watch for newcomers," Ruby explained. "And don't forget our cat." True to her word, a small black cat hopped down from the tree, onto Ruby's shoulder. With audible purrs, it walked to her other shoulder. "Meat Blake. Our cat." She laughed, dropping the axe to reach up and cradle the cat. 

"Blake is a...cat...in your world," Coco said slowly. 

"A cat," Fox repeated, for good measure.

"Yeah. Why, what is she in yours?"

"A human," Yatsu said thoughtfully. "Though, she might be a faunus. The bow she wears could be a pair of ears."

"C'mon, Yats," Velvet said, playfully punching his shoulder. "We'd have to be pretty stupid not to notice that."

Yatsu shrugged. "Just a thought."

Pyrrha had crept over, crouching down besides the exit to the Mayor's mansion. "Where do you live?" Velvet asked her. Pyrrha looked around, to see if Velvet was talking to anyone else, then answered slowly, "I stay at the Mayor's. She lets me sleep in a spare bed of hers." She sat down fully on the snow. Velvet heard the low rumble of Pyrrha's stomach. Which reminded her that she hadn't eaten since that morning. "Do you still have that dream fruit?" she asked. She didn't feel hungry, but thought that it would be good to stay in the habit, for when she eventually got out. 

She knew there had to be some way to get out of the Void. No matter what the Mayor said, or what Ruby and Weiss claimed. Then a thought occurred to her. "The Mayor mentioned a sister," she said. "Do you know where she is?"

"She left before anyone else came here," Ruby answered. She passed Blake the Cat to Weiss, who took the cat and began scratching her head. Ruby hefted the axe and took the next swing at the tree. 

"I thought you said we can't leave," Sylvia burst out, angrily. 

"No--she left the _town,_ " Ruby elaborated with a chuckle. "Not the Void--at least that we know of."

"But wouldn't that turn her into a void wraith?" Yatsu asked. "Wouldn't she just lose all her memories?"

"That was before the Mayor found out about that," Weiss said. Blake, perhaps sensing the sadness in her tone, butted her head against Weiss. "And not instantly. If that Yang managed to get to another town, another pocket of non-blizzard, she could have avoided that fate."

"You don't sound sure of it," Yatsu said slowly. 

Weiss looked around. "That is what the Mayor tells you, if you ask her. That is what the Mayor thinks happened. In a way, she's in as much denial as Coco is."

"I'm not in denial; I am in a hospital bed, unconscious and on painkiller drugs," Coco reaffirmed.

"If you say so," Weiss said without hesitation. "But the Mayor...she thinks that Yang will come back. Or hopes, at the very least. Everyone is sure that Yang was Lost a long time ago."

Something about the word sent a chill down Velvet's spine. "Lost?"

"What we call the process of becoming a void wraith," Weiss explained. She smiled at the cat, but it quickly faded. "There were a lot of people back then, and most of them, eventually, left into the blizzard. A few, early on, lived there. That's how the Mayor found out what where the wraiths came from."

"I really am going to have fun telling this to you when I wake up," Coco said. Velvet was beginning to get annoyed at her. Since their arrival, Coco hadn't been the strong, supportive leader she'd always been. She'd just become apathetic. She hadn't cared about anything. She hadn't done anything besides walk around and spout negative comments about how everything wasn't real. Before she could say anything, however, Pyrrha moved closer to Velvet, and handed her the dream fruit. 

"Thanks," Velvet said. She lifted the fruit up(with difficulty). "Do...do I just bite into it? Like an apple?"

"Yes," Sylvia answered. "I've eaten a few. They're...experiences each and every one."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Velvet asked. 

"Try it." 

So Velvet bit into the fruit. It was...sweet? An odd juice clung to her lips as she hastily wiped her mouth on her sleeve. 

In her own world, she had once been asked by Ruby if she and Coco were a couple. She had thought long and hard about the question. She had eventually decided that she'd like to be. She liked Coco, and was reasonably certain that Coco liked her as well. At the time, Ruby had said that she'd been hoping for advice. Velvet had laughed, and said they'd both stumble through their romantic troubles together. 

That was what the fruit tasted like. 

"What." Velvet stared at the fruit's innards. "What was that?"

"Every fruit brings back a different one of your memories," Sylvia laughed. "Perhaps something that's been on your mind recently?"

Velvet felt sure she was blushing. She didn't say anything about it, and really hoped no one mentioned it. Sylvia looked at her oddly, then smiled and her face lit up with an obnoxious giggle. "Oh, something personal then. Okay."

Velvet's blush deepened. 

"How personal, I wonder?" Yatsu picked up the dream fruit and threw it at Sylvia's face. Sylvia ducked, letting the fruit hit the wall behind her. It bounced off and hit her in the head, then landed in the snow. Sylvia rubbed her head. "I guess I deserved that."

"Now I'm curious," Coco said. "I suppose I don't know much about Velvet's personal life, so my brain just had to abort before I got there. Cause I don't know."

"Oh, stuff a sock in it!" Sylvia snapped. "I'll throw the fruit at you!" She made no move to grab it. 

Finally, the tree collapsed with. It fell to the ground, bounced up one time, and then stayed. Ruby rested the axe on her shoulders, glaring down at the tree. "Actually, this is gonna take awhile yet. You should go find something else to do."

"Like what?" Yatsu asked. 

"Uh..." Ruby glared at the tree, looked at Yatsu, then back at the tree. "I don't know. I know it's gonna take a while for me to deal with the other two trees. And then they have to be cut even further, and sanded...Weiss...help?"

"I'll give you a tour of the town," Weiss said, helping her apparent wife. 

"Thank you." 

Weiss set down the cat. "You two already know you're way around, but tag along if you want," she said, pointing at Pyrrha and Sylvia. Sylvia shrugged. "Got nothing better to do." Pyrrha said nothing, but, as the group started moving, followed behind them, wrapping her cloak tightly around herself. 

The town was one 'street'. It was two rows of houses, with the Mayor's mansion at the end. In the distance, Velvet saw the log cabin at the edge of the blizzard. Looking around, she saw several such cabins, each of them long distances away. "The town's bigger than I thought," she said. 

"It's mostly empty space," Coco complained. "I am sorely disappointed in my imagination."

"So the dream fruit carry memories in them?" Fox said. 

"It's more like, they dig up memories, so that they're more clear," Sylvia explained. She had her hands in her pockets, slightly hunched over. Her crossbow was carried across her back--though, unlike Ruby, she carried no ammo. Another thing that separated her from Ruby was that her hair was black with a few white locks, instead of red ones. Her eyes were still silver, though, and the resemblance was startling. 

"What do you remember when you eat one?" Fox asked. 

Sylvia looked away. "Bad memories."

"Sorry," Fox said. "I didn't mean to--"

"It's fine," Sylvia said hurriedly, indicating that it wasn't fine. "Just a few...well, you know how when the Mayor came here, her machine was broken?"

"So she said."

"Well, in my case, it was innate ability. So, when I got stabbed..." She trailed off. "From what I've seen, not everyone with a broken interdimensional traveler ends up here. But its one of the components."

"Ouch. So you remember getting stabbed?" He paused. "How old are you? You sound pretty young to me."

"I'm fifteen," she said. "And not counting, I guess, cause I'm still stuck here." She sounded glad to have the conversation change. Velvet didn't bring attention back around. 

**_____________**

She refused. 

She trudged through the blizzard, snow and wind whipping through her hair. She was glad for her jacket, even though she wore it unbuttoned right now. _It constricts my lungs,_ she thought angrily at herself. _Of course I can't button it or I couldn't breathe._

And she simply refused. She refused to bow to this...this...this lack of a dimension! It was no place! It was no foe before her! It was all a lie!

He had told her...yes, yes, he had told her the truth. How she could leave this abominable place. And it was so easy! So, so easy. She grinned maliciously. Of course, she only had half her lips with which to grin. Half her face had the skin grayed out, frayed. The lips on that half were almost entirely gone, a few stray strands of 'skin' left. She was not quite a void wraith yet--she still had time. Her body was still connected to her mind. Loosely, but it was enough. 

She looked through the blizzard. She saw it...yes...she saw it. The town. Ruby Rose's little village. Her predatory grin was beginning to hurt. Her arms swung at her sides, and she broke into a run. 

_I'm coming home._


	5. Chapter 5

The ticking apparatus that had sat on the Mayor's fireplace had actually been a clock. To tell the time so that every twelve hours, the Mayor could say, "It's night time" and ring a bell. 

CFVY's house hadn't been built yet. So the Mayor said they could sleep in her house. Yet she only had one spare room(the rest were, apparently, in use) so they shared a room with Pyrrha and Sylvia.

Velvet fluffed up the blankets. She was tired. Whether from the combat this morning, or the rest of her day, she was tired. As were the rest of her team. 

"I guess that's day one over," Velvet said. She lay down in her bed. 

"I'm kind of impressed," Pyrrha said. She had a bed all to herself--when she'd been asked why, she'd told Velvet that she 'had impulse problems'. Given what else Velvet knew of her, she hadn't asked further. "You handled that better than most other people did."

"What do you mean by that?" Yatsu asked. He shared a bed with Coco. Unfortunately, Coco was still being just as stubborn as she had been earlier in the day, insisting that when she went to sleep, she'd wake up in the 'real world'. 

"From what I've heard, most people have complete emotional breakdowns day one," Pyrrha said, laying her cloak to the side. "I...I did. Sylvia...well, Sylvia was unconscious her first day here, but she's been having one long, drawn-out breakdown since she got here." Her stomach rumbled, and she visibly flinched. 

"Unconscious?" Velvet asked. She turned to Sylvia, who had already laid down on the bed with Velvet. Fox sat on her other side. "It had...been a long day." She didn't say anything more, and Velvet was too tired to prod. Not that she felt like prodding in the first place. So she pulled the warm blanket up to her chin and went to sleep. 

She awoke in the middle of the night to someone muttering. She groggily opened her eyes to see Sylvia tossing and turning, back and forth. Velvet almost just went back to sleep, but then she heard what Sylvia was muttering in her sleep. 

"Mom...don't...stay...way...Rosetta..." A pained look crossed Sylvia's face. "No..."

Velvet sat up, a feeling of dread crossing over her. She had a brief flash of Sylvia saying, _"It had been a long day."_

"No...MOM!" Sylvia burst upright, sweating and crying, gasping. She looked around the room, her eyes resting on Velvet. 

"Hi," Velvet said. 

Sylvia fell back onto the bed, sobbing uncontrollably. Velvet felt the intense desire to help, but knew of absolutely nothing to say. She finally decided upon, "I'm sorry you're having a bad time."

Sylvia glared at her. "A bad time?" she hissed. "A bad time? I watched a serial killer kill my mother while I stood back and did nothing! 'Bad time' doesn't begin to describe it!" She sobbed again, then appeared to notice how Velvet had reacted. Velvet had scooted back to the edge of the bed, and had instinctively flinched back. 

Velvet wasn't shy. She just had trouble finding words. And people raising their voices. "Sorry," Sylvia whispered, wiping tears from her eyes. "I...got mad." 

Velvet nodded. Sylvia, with a sigh, got out of bed and picked up her crossbow, strapping it onto her back. 

"Where are you going?" 

"Out for a walk," Sylvia said. "I'm not going back to sleep now, in any case."

"Won't people worry when they can't find you?"

"They stopped freaking out after the first few times," Sylvia replied casually. She strode out the door. Velvet got up and followed her. 

The Void didn't look any different at 'night'. Presumably because there was no day/night cycle. Velvet had the sudden feeling that that should have screwed up her sleep patterns, but she didn't feel like it had so far. 

"On my world," Sylvia said quietly, stopping in her tracks and looking up at the suns. "On my world, silver eyes means you have magic. Magic to travel between worlds. My mom had silver eyes, as did I. I mean, obviously." She gestured to her face. "We traveled around a bit." She looked down at the snow beneath her. The three suns cast three different shadows of her, at three angles. "But I began to get tired of it. I...wanted a home. A place to stay. We had a big argument about it." She laughed, though she wasn't happy. "Ironic, isn't it? I got a home, a place to stay, but now I'm trying my damnedest to leave." A bitter smile crept over her face. "I ran from her, refusing to talk to her. But then...she came in. Rosetta. She could also travel through worlds with ease, but...she used it for her own sick and twisted sense of fun. To kill people for fun. Like she killed...my mom." Sylvia was crying again. Velvet attempted a comforting hug, though she wasn't sure how well it worked. "We'd just ended the argument. But Mom couldn't just fight Rosetta, or run away--though I doubt either would have worked. She tried...appealing to that monster's humanity. I was so scared--she told me not to worry--but I couldn't move--"

"She's gone now."

"Both of them are. That's the problem. Unlike Coco, I don't have the option of saying that this is all a dream, and that I'll wake up and see her standing above me, cooking pancakes, and we'd have a laugh over my weird-ass dream...I envy Coco."

Velvet stepped in front of Sylvia, putting her hands on the younger girl's shoulders. "Stop. What Coco is doing is not healthy. Just saying, 'it's a dream' isn't how you deal with things like this. You're never gonna move on unless you acknowledge what's wrong."

"I know," Sylvia said quietly. 

They stood there for a moment. Then Sylvia's eyes narrowed, and she looked past Velvet. "Who's--"

Three fingers wrapped around Velvet's chest. Two fingers and a thumb, all pitch black, and looking faded, covered in scratches, each ending in a long claw. Before she could cry out in alarm, Velvet was lifted off the ground and thrown to the side. She hit a house, bounced right off of it, and landed face-first in the snow. She quickly recovered and turned to face her attacker. 

It was Yang. A Yang, and definitely not any Yang Xiao Long that Velvet had met. She had the same yellow hair, the same violet eyes. She wore shorts and knee-high boots. A flame emblem was sewn onto one pants leg, and she wore a tank top that went down to her belly button. A jacket was worn over this, not a single button done, but the left sleeve was missing. This appeared to be because her left hand was the one with three fingers. That hand was pitch black all the way to the shoulder, and looked like it had been scratched with a nail. That hand slunk back to a normal arm length, having stretched out almost thirty feet to attack Velvet. 

Then she saw the face. The left half of Yang's face had the same black and scratched look as her arm, and was missing its cheek, giving Velvet a view of her graying teeth. The lips that Yang still had were curled into a predatory grin. She laughed. "There you are," she said in an accented tone. A familiar accent. Where had Velvet heard it?

Sylvia pointed her crossbow at her. "Who the hell are you?" she exclaimed. 

"An interested party," Yang laughed, throwing her arms into the air. Her right arm appeared normal, with an orange glove covering the hand, and an orange ribbon around her wrist. She wore two more such ribbons around her knees. 

"You can't attack people like that!" Sylvia said. 

"I think what you mean is I shouldn't, because I obviously can," Yang growled, still smiling. She began walking forward. 

"Stop or I fire!" Sylvia cried, sounding scared. Velvet hurriedly fished out her camera...

She was out of dust. A spike of alarm went through her. She'd used it all during the car chase...they'd even just been regular crooks! She would have saved as much as possible if she'd known she'd be fighting something like _this!_

Sylvia fired, a silver crossbow bolt made of pure light flying through the air and embedding itself in Yang's chest. Yang was staggered, but she plucked the bolt out and tossed it aside. "Come now. Surely you remembered that I can't DIE, did you?" She thrust her black hand at Sylvia, and the hand _stretched_ out, easily crossing the twenty feet to Sylvia and digging its claws into her shoulders. Sylvia screamed in pain, grabbing at the clawed fingers as she was lifted off the ground. Yang gave Sylvia a shake, her arm rippling like it was a bungee cord. "Now, now. You can't die, either...so please. Feel free to HURT as much as you WANT." Another cruel laugh as Yang stood right in front of Sylvia. Velvet lunged forward and decked her. Her fist connected with Yang's normal half, and immediately hit the woman's Aura. 

Yang, evidently, had a lot of it. It felt like Velvet had just punched a moving truck. Pain ran up her arm, and she stumbled back, sure her wrist was at least partly broken. Yang turned to her, then, incredibly fast, grabbed her by the collar of her shirt with her normal arm. She lifted Velvet off the ground as well. "That was a mistake," she growled, snarling. Her fingers dug into Velvet's flesh, wrapping around her collar bone. Velvet screamed in pain as Yang _shattered_ the bone with minimal effort and dropped Velvet to the ground. "You'll heal in a few minutes," she growled. "As long as you don't push my temper even FURTHER."

Velvet tried to rise, swatting at Yang's feet. Her face and chest were covered in blood, and she felt like her thoughts shouldn't be this clear...but she wasn't in shock. She could tell by how much everything hurt. Yang stomped on Velvet's hand, grinding it into the snow and breaking every bone in that hand. "Stop it before I kill you," Yang growled. 

Velvet was in too much pain to argue. She looked up at Yang's cruel face, where the grin had returned. A small blast of white energy hit her and harmlessly dispersed. Yang turned to look at the still struggling Sylvia. "What do you want?" Sylvia demanded, one hand glowing a hot white, the other clenched tight around Yang's demonic wrist. 

"You to get me out of this God-forsaken hell-hole," Yang laughed. 

"I can't!"

"Yes you can! He said you could, and Chaos Lords can't lie!"

"What the hell is a Chaos Lord?" Sylvia asked, her face confused. 

Yang shook her violently, the claws digging deeper into the poor girl's shoulder. A few people had stepped out of their houses, but none came to help. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Yang snarled, barring her teeth. 

"I can't!"

"Don't lie to me," Yang ordered. She turned to look at Velvet. "But hold on. You have a friend. I have a request. Let's make it...so that we both get what we want. You GET me the FUCK out of here, and I won't MURDER Bunny-Girl." She reached down and lifted Velvet by the ears. Velvet screamed in pain, her broken collar bone flaring with pain. 

"Now you're lying--people can't die here," Sylvia said with a mocking laugh. "Your threat is empty, and I'm telling the truth. I can't leave. I've been trying for two weeks."

"Stop lying!" Yang shook Velvet by the ears, up and down. Velvet grabbed a hold of the woman's wrist with her working hand. "You can LEAVE! Your MOTHER left here! Her WORTHLESS daughter should easily be able to!"

"She did, but I can't!" Sylvia cried in vain. "I can't leave here! She may have been able to leave at will, but I can't!"

Yang seemed to calm down somewhat. "FINE then," she spat, hurling Sylvia. Sylvia rolled across the ground. Sylvia landed by her crossbow, clutching her wounded shoulder. 

"If you CAN'T get me out of here, then I CAN'T let your friend live," Yang said. She reached over with her claws, clawing Velvet's cheeks open. 

"Just listen to her! If she says she can't, why not ask _why_ she can't!" Velvet burst out. "Surely there are a million better things you could be doing!"

Yang ripped one of Velvet's ears off, letting the faunus drop to the ground, screaming in pain. "Like TORTURING you?" Yang laughed. She kicked Velvet hard in the stomach. "Don't push your luck, Bunny."

_Click._

All eyes turned to Coco, swapping her bag to its Gatling gun mode and opening fire. Bullets ripped right through Yang, throwing her backwards as she cried out in pain. As Coco emptied her gun into her, Yang stumbled and fell over backwards. 

Coco was furious.


	6. Chapter 6

Coco rushed over, helping Velvet to her feet. "Are you okay? Scratch that, will you live?"

"The good thing is, I can't die right now," Velvet said. "And my collarbone is no longer broken." She felt her chest, hand sticky with blood. "And..." 

"Your ear," Coco said, stroking Velvet's hair. She wished she had her glasses. She felt like her pain was so obvious on her face, her every emotion in excruciating detail. 

Velvet was covered in her own blood. She reached up and grabbed Coco's hand. "I'll live. Besides, one less ear for Cardin to yank on, eh?"

"If you two are done flirting," Sylvia complained, "she's back up."

Yang stood, her wounds slowly closing. Her blood covered the snow around her, sticky grey and flowing at a leisurely pace. Yang flinched, rubbing her jaw. "Okay, _devushka._ Okay then."

" _Devushka?_ " Coco asked. "Like what the Mayor said?"

"Ruby said it was Russian," Velvet pointed out. She stepped out of Coco's way. "Are you...the Mayor's sister? The one who left into the blizzard?"

"So she's still kicking," Yang said with that smile of hers. The same smile that Coco had seen many times, directed at Ruby or Blake. Except instead of love and kindness, it was menacing and predatory. The way Beowulves watched your every movement, every sway, the rise and fall of your chest and stomach, your breathing. It was why she'd started wearing the sunglasses--to get away from the watching eyes of monsters. 

"You are a bitch," Coco said. 

"Oh! I'm SHOCKED. I really am. With that SIMPLE and BASE insult, you have shattered my--eh, forget, I don't have the PATIENCE." Her lips curled, revealing more of her teeth. "You, SYLVIA, are going to get me out of here."

"I told you I can't!" Sylvia said. "I've been--"

"LIAR!" Yang took a few steps forward. "You're LYING! HE said you could do it! YOUR MOTHER could do it! YOU can DO it!"

"Who said--you know what? I don't even care." Sylvia rubbed her shoulder. "Just leave me alone. Even if I could send you out of here, I wouldn't at this point, cause you've been nothing but an asshole! Try saying please for once!" She shook her head. "Seriously!"

Coco swapped her gun to handbag mode. "I'm out of bullets."

"I ran out of Dust this morning," Velvet said. "So, between us, we have an exceptionally heavy purse and a camera. And the flash doesn't work."

"GOOD GOD, don't you ever SHUT UP?" Yang said, her arms hanging in front of her limply. "You know, I would have been GONE a long time ago IF you had just GIVEN me what I wanted. GET ME out of this place." An arrow stuck into her head, which snapped backwards as she stumbled. Yang staggered, then shook her head, plucking the arrow out. Solid metal, crimson red. 

"Stay away from her," Ruby said, bow taught, arrow ready, Weiss next to her with a broadsword out. Fox and Yatsu had arrived as well, with Pyrrha rushing ahead of them. "Velvet! Oh my God, ar you okay?"

"I'm fine," Velvet said, holding up her hands. "See, I'm fine."

"OH, GOD, CAN'T YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP AND LOOK AT YOUR ENEMY?" Yang bellowed. "C'mon! Look at me! I'm still standing!"

Before anyone could react, a voice cried, "Jesus Christ, will you idiots move out of my way?" Ruby and Weiss stepped aside as the Mayor herself pushed through. Weiss stepped up with the Mayor again. "Mayor, you need to stay away from--" Without answering or looking her way, the Mayor shoved Weiss back, then stood directly in front of Yang, with nothing but open air between them. 

"Long time no see," Yang finally drawled. 

"Yes, it has been a while, hasn't it?" the Mayor chuckled. 

"Mayor, she's in the middle of being Lost," Weiss interrupted, stepping close again, watching Yang intensely. 

"I noticed, Schnee," the Mayor growled. "She's my sister. She wouldn't hurt me." Again, she shoved Weiss back, and, turning to Yang, continued. "Almost...what, seventeen-hundred years?"

"Give or take a few weeks," Yang chuckled. "But I don't remember leaving on a 'happy' note."

The Mayor's face scrunched up, confused, then returned to her normal expression. "Ah. Right. I'd forgotten."

"How are you the forgetful one?" Yang laughed. She gestured wildly with her black hand, three clawed fingers clicking against each other. "I mean, I'm half void wraith right now."

The Mayor laughed as well. "Two thousand years in the space between worlds tends to do that." She shook her head, and the two of them just laughed. 

"You're just fine staying here," Yang finally said, her smile fading. 

The Mayor's smile faded as well. "Not as if there was ever much for me to go home to," she admitted. "After...after..." More confusion. "Damn. I never remember..."

"You'd rather stay here and let everything go, then go back and try to fix it," Yang said. Almost...accusatory.

"As I said, there's not much for me to go home to," the Mayor said apologetically. 

A moment of silence passed between the sisters. The attack seemed to happen in slow-motion. 

Yang thrust out her clawed hand, which stretched forward, rushing through the air. Weiss rushed forward to intercept the attack. Coco ran to knock the Mayor out of harm's way. 

But the Mayor simply raised a hand. A signal to stop. Coco grated to a halt, as did Weiss. Coco looked at the Mayor in confusion, then the claws shot through the Mayor's chest. Blood sprayed the air behind her as the arm retracted back to Yang. Who immediately received an arrow in her head, followed by as many as Ruby could fire with her bow. 

The Mayor swayed, breathing deeply, then fell over backwards. Coco rushed forward, collapsing besides her. "Are you alright?"

The Mayor was silent for a long moment. "That attack...killed me." She looked confused. "She killed me."

"What are you talking about?" Coco burst out. 

"I'm going to die," the Mayor continued. "Huh."

Shock ran through Coco. "But I thought people--"

"We all thought people couldn't get out, and yet, Sylvia's mom apparently managed," the Mayor said with a sad chuckle. "The reality is, we _don't_ know how this place works. It seems inconsistent, but it could be that we simply don't know the rules of the game."

Yang laughed, harshly, bitterly, then began walking backwards. "Alright," she said, smiling. "I'll go now. But I'll be back. And when I return, YOU, Sylvia, are sending me out of this place. Or I'll kill someone else. I'm going to keep killing until I get what I want." She plucked the arrows out of her, tossing each one into the snow. "Bye bye." She turned and ran off, towards the blizzard. 

" _Kosti ne vsegda brosayut shesterki,_ " the Mayor whispered. "The dice don't always roll sixes. Dad...was a bit of a gambler. He was fond of saying that one."

"Why didn't you let me save you?" Coco said, crying. 

"Now, now," the Mayor said, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "I don't think a figment of your imagination warrants this much grief, does it?"

Coco stared at her in shock. "I...I never meant...I..." 

The Mayor took her hand. "Doesn't matter what you meant, and it never mattered what I meant. Both of us hurt a few of our loved ones. Difference is, Velvet doesn't seemt ow ant to kill you." The Mayor was speaking softly, and Coco didn't think anyone around them could hear what she said. 

"Why didn't you let me save you?" Coco repeated. 

The Mayor smiled. Then closed her eyes, her arm falling limply into the snow. 

Ruby stepped over, looking down. "She's dead."


	7. Chapter 7

They hadn't designated any area for a graveyard. Nor did they have tombstones, or stone with which to build one. The corpse had been laid on the Mayor's bed while everyone talked about what to do. 'Everyone' consisting of Ruby, Weiss, and Ruby's sister, Yang. They all stood in the Mayor's office, with CFVY spread out and Sylvia in a chair. 

"We don't want her coming back and we don't want her to be here," Yang said, gesturing with a gauntleted hand. She wore leather armor and a fur cloak, with a large battle axe strapped over her back. "If Sylvia can just get her out of here, why the hell not?"

"Cause I can't actually get her out," Sylvia explained. "I know my mother went here one time and got out. That's it. She never told me how, if there was a special trick involved. All I know is that I haven't been able to do it."

"You're grieving," Velvet blurted out. 

Sylvia blinked. "That's an odd thing to just...suddenly say."

"What I'm saying is, maybe it's affecting your powers," Velvet explained. She'd wiped off the blood with a towel, though her ear still had yet to grow back--if it ever was. "Could grief do that?"

Sylvia shrugged. "I don't know how my powers work," she said. "If I wanna shoot a laser crossbow bolt, I shoot one. If I want to travel, usually I just do." She shrugged again. "I have never once thought about it."

Coco rubbed her forehead. "That's a pain."

"It's never been necessary," Sylvia countered, throwing her hands into the air. "I've never been in a serious battle before two weeks ago! This was never something I expected to have to do!"

"The only problem is we can't kill evil me, but she can kill us," Yang said with a dramatic sigh, rubbing her temple. "We can't win against her--hell, even if we bury her alive she'll eventually get out. And then we're back to square one."

"If she were buried in the blizzard, she'd become a full void wraith," Weiss said. "She'd lose all her memories, and we'd all be safe. She'd probably still be able to kill us--I'm reasonably certain all void wraiths can, we've just never seen one do it before. But she'd be just like all the other wraiths."

"Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed. "Do you know what you're suggesting?"

"Yes, I do."

"I don't think so! You're suggesting taking away everything that makes her _her,_ and dropping her in a place where she can never get it back. Hell, even if she did get them back, she wouldn't be able to get home ever again, because she wouldn't have a body!"

"She'd eventually manage to succeed, and if she kills all of us, then we won't be able to return home," Weiss countered. She said it calmly, levelly. Coco grimly thought that dying would have been nicer than becoming a void wraith. 

"Don't you think it sets a bad precedent if we toss everyone who causes trouble into the blizzard for all eternity?" Ruby cried. "This is _insane,_ Weiss!"

"ENOUGH!" Velvet shouted. "This isn't getting us anywhere!" When everyone looked at her, she blushed, making herself small on her chair. "I mean, uh..."

"That's a great _second_ option, Weiss," Coco interjected. "Our first try should be getting her out of here. Sylvia, can you find a spot to practice?"

"Uh...I think I could find a spot over by the edge of town to try and create a stable portal," Sylvia said. "But just for the record, any explosions caused are not on me."

"Acknowledged." It wasn't her town, anyway, and she didn't plan on staying here any longer than evil Yang did. 

Weiss nodded as well--which made Coco feel just slightly better. "Alright then. And if that doesn't work...we'll do what we have to."

"By the second Pantheon, you're not still thinking of doing it," Ruby said quietly. "Have you been listening to me? The torment that would cause--"

"Doing it to someone like her won't weigh much on my conscience," Fox interrupted. 

"My Semblance wipes memories," Yatsu said, "but this..." He shook his head. "Only if we can't get her to stop any other way."

"Alright then," Yang grinned darkly. "That's the plan, then."

Sylvia took a deep calming breath. She held her glaive out, level, with the blade a foot above her head. She slowly traced downwards, and a silvery glow spread out with the swing of the glaive. 

Then it exploded. 

Sylvia found herself thrown backwards, multiple burn marks sizzling uncomfortably on her skin, but healing at a rate they'd never healed outside the Void. Normal people enjoyed the enhanced regeneration, but she'd already had that. The wounds healed seconds after they were made, and barely hurt. Sylvia jumped to her feet, muttering foul curse words as she dusted herself off. She hefted her glaive, then turned to where Velvet sat, watching her. 

A moment of awkward silence passed between them. Finally, Sylvia said, "How long have you been sitting there?"

"Since you came out here," Velvet replied. 

Sylvia winced, thinking back to the dozens of explosions she'd suffered from the past few hours. "The whole time?"

"Yeah." Velvet's remaining bunny ear twitched, almost awkwardly. It was adorable, and Sylvia had to keep herself from trying to scratch behind her ears. 

"So...yeah."

"That's what happened to all your houses," Velvet said. She was resting her head and arms on her knees, sitting on a large snowbank. 

"Luckily, whatever kind of wood that is doesn't really catch fire--especially cause fires here don't ever catch out," she said with an awkward chuckle. 

"Going for small talk?" Velvet asked with a tired smile. Sylvia was hit with the realization that Velvet had been through a lot the past forty-eight hours. 

"I...uh..."

"It's fine," Velvet said hurriedly. "Just...well, someone friggin' died yesterday. No one seems to be thinking about that too much, but...I can tell how tense everyone is. Ruby and Weiss went door to door, explaining what happened and giving help to those who needed it." She looked off into the blizzard, a swirling wall of snow and ice. "From what I've heard, that's most of what the Mayor did while she lived."

"Even if I...never actually listened too much to her advice, she was always kind to me," Sylvia said. "She put up with my shit for two whole weeks, which is longer than most people would have." She pushed a button on the glaive, swapping it to crossbow mode before putting it on her back. 

"Who are you?" Velvet asked. "I mean, your name is Sylvia. But you look so much like Ruby, but slightly off...are you a version of Ruby?"

"You've seen quite a bit of interdimensional travel," Sylvia told her with a smile. "So you've seen enough to know that the answer is just slightly more complicated than that."

Velvet waited expectantly. 

Sylvia plopped herself down in the snow besides Velvet. "Well, do you know who Ruby's parents are in your world?"

"Uh...Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long, I think," Velvet said, hoping she'd got the names right. 

"Well, in my world, my Mom...was Summer, and my Dad was a guy called Qrow." Sylvia smiled. "Never met him, but Mom...she said some good things about him. So I'm _not_ Ruby Rose. I'm someone close, but different. In a way, she's...sort of like my interdimensional sister. Hell, I'm as closely related to her as she is to Yang." At the mention of Ruby's half-sister, Sylvia recalled the monster they were going up against. "Good God. We're screwed, aren't we?"

"No we're not!"

"I mean, even if we do take evil Yang down, we're still gonna be stuck here until I find out why I can't travel." She picked up some snow, crumbling it between her fingers. "But I think...I think I'm not too different from your friend Coco."

Velvet didn't answer. Sylvia kept talking. "She...just denied the fact that she was here in the first place. But me...I...if I go back...then that means...that it wasn't a bad dream. I'll find out that Rosetta...wasn't a nightmare. She was a real person. _Is_ a real person. Who...killed my Mom." Sylvia sighed. "I know that it's true. That she was real, and that it wasn't a bad dream. But...dammit, I've still got my hope. I was always a hopeful little git, and I still am! I hope that it was all a dream, though I know it's not true!"

"I hope for impossible things all the time," Velvet said quietly. "But it never really stops me from doing the things I need to do."

Sylvia smiled at her. "You're a good friend." She hugged Velvet tightly. Velvet winced. 

A bell rang. 

Nightfall. 

Yang had returned. 


	8. Chapter 8

Yang stomped through snow, her faded arm dragging the ground behind her. Ice crunched as the claws scraped across the road. 

Ruby, Weiss, and the other Yang had their weapons drawn and leveled at her. 

She chuckled. "Now now. I'm sure Sylvia's come to her SENSES. She'll get me OUT of here, and I'll be on my WAY. There she is NOW."

Sylvia and Velvet came out, looking at the dark villain before them. Yang grinned menacingly. A smile that showed too many teeth to start with, in addition that she had no cheeks on half her face. "Well?"

"I still can't do it," Sylvia said. 

Yang's face fell, but her upper lip rose into a snarl. 

"Right now, for reasons I don't know, I can't travel," Sylvia said slowly. "I cannot get you home. I am sorry." It was an impressive feat of willpower that prevented Sylvia from adding, "Fuck off, bitch," but she managed to restrain herself. 

"You are still LYING," Yang said, equally slowly. "How many of these people do I have to KILL before you realize that that BULLSHIT excuse ISN'T GOING TO WORK?"

"It's not an--oh, why do I even bother?" Sylvia said with a sigh. "Go away. Stop trying to kill us."

"Why won't you just LET ME GO HOME?" Yang screamed, arms hanging limply in front of her. "Of all the STUPID things to do, THAT happens to be the STUPIDEST." She took a step forward and immediately had an arrow embed itself in her face. Furiously, she yanked out the arrow before glaring at Ruby. 

"Let's take her down," Ruby said, pulling out another arrow. Startlingly enough, another arrow materialized in her quiver to replace the ones she fired. 

Weiss lunged forward, swinging her sword at Yang, who deflected with her wraith hand and swung a punch. Weiss stepped back out of reach, and Yang began to pursue when an axe blade stuck into her shoulder. Yang staggered, turning to face another version of herself as she pulled the axe out and swung again. This time, the evil Yang caught it by the handle and firmly yanked it from the other's grasp before kicking her away. Then a silver crossbow bolt slammed into her face, blowing a hole through her head. As the wound sealed up, she turned to face Sylvia, who cried triumphantly, "Ha ha! I actually hit a moving target!" With a cry of rage, Yang threw the axe at Sylvia, who ducked. 

As Yang began to move again, Fox rushed in, throwing several punches. Yang staggered backwards before reaching forward and grabbing Fox's hand. Velvet leapt in and kicked Yang's face as hard as she could. 

She bounced off and hit the snow. Coco leapt in and bashed Yang's face with her handbag, causing the latter to drop Fox, who promptly punched Yang's stomach before he and Coco leapt backwards. Yang shot out her wraith hand, but Coco stepped aside. But the hand immediately shot back towards Yang, grabbing Coco firmly by the hand, digging its claws into Coco's arm. Triumphant, Yang pulled Coco in close, but Weiss jumped forward and cut of Coco's hand, pulling her to safety. 

"It'll regrow in a few," Weiss assured her. 

"It better," Coco growled through the pain--which was already starting to die down. 

Yang threw the severed arm to the side, right when a second arrow hit her shoulder. She pulled the arrow out as a second crossbow bolt hit her stomach. Yang's grayish blood splattered the snow around her as she raged. 

"I'm going to KILL you ALL!" she screamed. She grabbed Coco's handbag, lifting it from where it fell, and hurled it at Weiss. Weiss caught it and tossed it to Coco, who grabbed it awkwardly in her off-hand. Her other hand had mostly regrown by now. 

Yang's hand shot towards Weiss, but Yatsu stepped in and slammed his sword into it, pinning it to the ground. Weiss stepped in and slammed her sword on top of Yatsu's. The combined force of both swords severed the hand at the wrist, and the severed hand immediately dissipated into gray smoke. Yang screamed in pain, stumbling back as her hand snapped back to her like a rubber band. 

"Did it already regrow?" Coco cried. She stared at her own regrowing hand, which had only gone to the wrist so far. "Good gods, that's fast."

Which was when Pyrrha arrived. She leapt in, landing front of Yang, and threw a punch, hitting Yang square in the jaw. Yellow Aura absorbed the blow, and Pyrrha took a step back, cradling her hand. "Jesus Christ!" Pyrrha cried, rubbing her hand. Then Yang backhanded her--with the wraith hand. Pyrrha flung backwards. Velvet stepped forward, intent on catching Pyrrha, but instead both just ended up rolling across the ground.

"I saw that working a lot better in my head," Pyrrha muttered. 

"She has a lot of Aura," Velvet replied. "It didn't go over well when I hit her without a weapon."

"Maybe if I'd been at full strength, but starved as I am..." Pyrrha lamented, getting off Velvet. Velvet looked at Coco, who swung her handbag towards Yang, knocking the other down. On cue, an arrow hit Yang in the face, but Sylvia's crossbow bolt missed. 

Velvet noticed immediately that Coco's hand had fully regrown--but the sleeve hadn't grown back, though. A thought struck her. 

"You...eat humans, right?" she said awkwardly. 

Pyrrha looked at her. "Now isn't really the time to bring this up."

"Now's the perfect time. Neither of us are actually that tough right now. But..." She took a breath. "How much do you need to eat in order to get to full strength?"

Pyrrha looked at her. "I can't do that, Velvet. I can't."

"If evil Yang kills me, I reckon it'll hurt a lot," Velvet told her. With apprehension, she extended her hand to Pyrrha. "So, um, take a bite?"

Pyrrha looked at the arm, hungrily. For a split second, her face adopted Yang's predatory smile. It faded just as quickly. "Velvet...my...I..."

"I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" Yang shouted. Weiss flung over their heads, colliding with a wood wall and bouncing off. 

"Pyrrha, just do it!" Velvet ordered. "Before she kills us--"

Pyrrha bit her. A ravenous hungry bit, ripping sleeve and all from Velvet's hand. Pain shot up her arm. 

Velvet figured screaming in pain wouldn't help, and managed to repress it. Instead she winced. "A little warning, next time?" she asked quietly. 

Pyrrha nodded apologetically. Then she spat out a bit of cloth. "Bleh. Sorry. I...haven't eaten anything in years." She stood up, stretching. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah." The wound had already healed, leaving nothing but teeth marks on Velvet's arm. And the rip in her sleeve. 

Yang hefted her battle axe, facing off her evil counterpart. "You...are...the worst..." she said. 

"Well, SYLVIA'S got me BEAT on that front, the LYING little SHIT," evil Yang replied. She eyed Pyrrha as she stepped up besides good Yang. 

Evil Yang caught an arrow out of midair as a crossbow bolt went over her head. "What are you gonna do? PUNCH me again?" She held her hands up to the sides. "COME ON, then!"

Pyrrha leapt in and punched her in the chest. Yang was thrown backwards, flipping over and rolling across the ground before landing on her feet, dragging one hand through the snow to slow herself down, a look of fury across her face. "WHAT?"

Pyrrha rubbed her fist. "Didn't even hurt that time."

Yang snarled, then shot her wraith hand out. Pyrrha stepped aside, then grabbed it around the wrist. Yang tried pulling it back, but Pyrrha dug her feet into the ground. Yang pulled desperately, trying to get her hand out of Pyrrha's grip. She clawed at Pyrrha with that hand's three fingers, but only succeeded in ripping Pyrrha's sleeve. Then a crossbow bolt hit her left leg, causing her to fall to one knee. As she looked up, an arrow landed directly in her eye--the eye on the faded side of her face. She screeched in pain, pulling the arrow out, tugging on her wraith hand again. Pyrrha gave the hand a firm yank, and Yang fell flat on her face. Yang rose, seeing everyone standing around her, weapons drawn. She met the eyes of each one of them. Then her gaze fell to the ground. "It was a bit hopeless, wasn't it?" she said, quietly and bitterly. "You win."

Velvet stepped over, ignoring Coco's protests. "You realize you could have asked nicely," she said. "It...Sylvia still wouldn't have been able to send you home, but you wouldn't have suffered like this." 

Yang glared up at her. Velvet snapped a picture. "Sorry," she apologized with a smile. "Force of habit."

"What now, genius?" Yang growled. "You can't kill me."

"But we can bury you alive, out in the blizzard," Weiss said. For the first time a look of fear crossed Yang's face. "No! No! I haven't been fighting it this long to lose now! You...you can't!"

Weiss glared at her. "You _murdered_ your own sister. I say it's what you deserve."

Velvet crouched down next to her. "Pyrrha, let her hand go."

Without argument, Pyrrha let go of Yang's hand. The wraith hand fell to the ground, slowly dragging across the ground back to its owner. "You've been through a lot," Velvet said. "I don't think _anyone_ deserves that. Come on." She extended a hand to Yang. "You'll eventually be able to get out of here. If it is possible, don't you have all eternity to wait? Can't you afford a little patience?"

Yang rubbed her wraith wrist. She didn't answer. 

"Sylvia really can't get you out of here right now," Velvet said. "She may be able to later, but she can't right now. We think it's an emotional thing..."

"So she lacks the motivation," Yang whispered quietly. 

Velvet blinked. "That's not what I--" Three clawed fingers closed around her next, digging just enough into the skin to hurt. Yang stood, holding up her hostage, saying, "If it's a matter of motivations, then surely you can muster up the will to save your friend." She was no longer smiling, no longer shouting. She still looked scared. "Now I know what failure means. I will NOT forget myself. The thing that makes me 'me' is all I have left!" Her grip tightened on Velvet's throat. "You better hurry it up with that portal, Sylvia."

"Put her down," Ruby said, drawing her bow. 

"Once Sylvia gets me out of here," Yang growled. "If she does that...then you won't need a second coffin."

No one moved for the longest moment, then, Sylvia switched her crossbow to glaive mode. "Alright. I...I'll try..."

"Good."

Sylvia focused, hands shaking as she began to create a portal. Yang...almost reminded her...of Rosetta. She had that same psychotic air, that same menace, the same pleasure taken from other's pain. Rosetta scared Sylvia more than anything Sylvia had ever seen before. 

Sparing a glance towards Yang, she realized that Yang had nothing on Rosetta. Rosetta was a million times the villain that Yang would ever be. 

The first portal exploded in Sylvia's face. Getting back up, she began a second portal. This one exploded as well. 

"Come on, clock's ticking," Yang growled. 

Sylvia ignored Yang. As she began a third portal, a thought struck her. She wasn't strong enough to protect anyone she cared about. Rosetta had proven that. As she breathed in and out, she knew what she had to do. 

The portal opened. Sylvia almost didn't believe it, but Yang cried, "Finally!" before throwing Velvet aside and jumping through the portal--which closed behind her. 

Sylvia stood there for a minute. "Coco, if you and your team wish to go home, come on then."

"Really?" Coco said, hefting her bag. "We...we can go home?"

"I know what to do now." She smiled at Coco. 

It wasn't a happy smile. 

Velvet laughed, throwing her arms around Coco. "We can go home!" She kissed Coco. Then she noticed Pyrrha, who looked...unhappy. "Do you...want to come with us?" Velvet asked her. 

Pyrrha seemed to cheer up a little, but said, "Ah...I don't want to intrude...and I think I might have trouble finding food there..."

"No more than anywhere else," Velvet said. "And...I'm sure Professor Ozpin could figure it out?" She shrugged helplessly. 

"Well...you're not 'my' Velvet," Pyrrha said, "but you are 'my friend'. I'll come with, if you'll have me."

"You two need some alone time together?" Yatsu said with a smirk. 

"Uh...don't joke like that," Velvet said, punching him on the shoulder. "It's insensitive. Besides, me and Coco are still dating."

Sylvia opened another portal, glowing violet. Her previous attempts had all glowed silver. She looked at the five of them. "For the record, I have no clue when or where you'll end up in your world. Time in the Void is weird, and I don't have the best positioning at the best of times. But on the bright side, I'm reasonably certain that I won't drop you in the ocean."

"Thanks for the heads-up," Coco said. 

"Please don't drown us," Fox said. 

"No promises."

They exited the portal, landing on...the Beacon runway? In front of several other jets...and team RWBY. 

"Where did you come from?" Ruby cried. "Is that...me?" She pointed at Sylvia. The knight Ruby, from the Void, had stayed--as she said, she needed to stay and help everyone who ended up there in the future. She could wait till the next time someone could bring her out. And the rest of the people had no homes to go back too--they'd been in the Void too long. 

"That's a long story," Velvet laughed. 

"WHERE'D YOUR EAR GO?!?!"

"Let's find this Ozpin guy so we only have to explain this once," Pyrrha said. 

"I feel like this is gonna come up a lot," Sylvia laughed. 

"Pyrrha, why are you wearing a Grimm mask?" Blake asked. 

Pyrrha looked confused. "Mask? This is my face."

Turns out, explaining everything took quite some time. Almost an hour later, Ozpin and team RWBY stared at them, in disbelief. 

The only thing that kept them from ending up in an insane asylum was the fact that Pyrrha and Sylvia had come with them. Pyrrha's 'diet' had been explained to Ozpin, who simply said, "I can work...something out."

Eventually, though, after they'd finished, a mirthful, yet somehow dry voice said, "The Void between worlds, eh?" 

They turned to see a man leaning against a wall. He wore a black trenchcoat and bowler hat, with spiked hair showing just over his eyes. His skin was a deathly white, and he had a gray sword and revolver sheathed and holstered in his belt, respectively. A twinkle shone in his...gray eyes? "Honestly, this is a first. Trust me when I say, giving me a first is an accomplishment, in addition to everything else you'v already done."

"This man is called Star," Ozpin said. "He showed up just after your disappearance...five days ago. You appear to have skipped a few days on your return trip, by the way."

"Did you see the evil Yang?" Coco suddenly said. "Gods, we just dropped her here!"

"You guys weren't returned to the time you left, or to the time you should have returned at," Star said. "I'll assume that Yang wasn't either, if her two-thousand year old half-body didn't disintegrate on the spot. She'll probably show up later--with a bunch of paperwork for Ravenwing to fill out."

"Ravenwing?" Sylvia said with glare. "You're with those clowns?"

Seeing the question on Coco's face, Star explained. "Ravenwing. We're...basically interdimensional police. If someone's hopping between worlds, causing trouble, we stop them. For example, if a homicidal half-void wraith shows up anywhere, in a world where no one's equipped to deal with interdimensional threats, we step in." He patted the sword at his side. "I came here to figure out which dimension you ended up in, to try and get you home, and arrest any criminals who had a hand in it. But it looks like you handled it yourselves and came back in one piece. Er...almost."

Velvet's remaining ear flattened against her head. 

"I know you're a little tired right now," Star said, fishing in a pocket, "but I wanted to give you this." He pulled out a card and handed it to Coco. "We're starting something new. A new branch of Ravenwing people have been calling 'Goldenclaw'. Cause Ravenwing's job is to deal with solely interdimensional threats, Goldenclaw's job is to deal with evil as it shows up, interdimensional or not. For example, Roman Torchwick in this world is a terrorist. Ravenwing wouldn't handle him, cause he's not interdimensional, so that job would fall to Goldenclaw." 

Coco took the card. It had a phone number printed on it. "Do I need a specific kind of phone to call you back? And why the hell is it black and white?"

"For the first question, no. That problem rests on my phone, which is properly equipped for communications. And as for the second question, I come from a world where there are no colors. I wish I could say I was green with envy, but I can't." Star shrugged, putting a hand on his hip. "Consider your trip through the Void as an application, and that card as acceptance. If you ever wish to join Goldenclaw...or you're just having more interdimensional troubles...call me. And as for you..." Star looked at Sylvia. "Sylvia Branwen, right?"

"Yeah. That's me."

"Riiight. Well, we thought you'd been killed by Rosetta as well, and that was almost ten years ago. And trust me, Rosetta's new fondness for serial killing hasn't died down."

"So she's still alive?" Sylvia asked. 

"Yeah. She reincarnates, so the multiple times we've managed to kill her haven't amounted to much." Star frowned at her. "Why?"

"I need to get strong enough to protect anyone I care about," Sylvia said. "I don't care if she reincarnates. I'm going to hunt her down and kill her. I only need to do it once, anyway."

"Uh...Sylvia, that's not a good idea," Star advised. 

Sylvia opened a portal. "Any leads on her current location?"

"No. She hops around frequently, but if you look for her, you can find her pretty quickly."

Sylvia nodded. She stepped through the portal, thoughts going through her head. She needed to get stronger. She just needed to find someone willing to train her. Someone she could practice with. 

If it took a year, or ten, or fifty, she _would kill Rosetta._ And maybe, just maybe, she could wipe that smile off her face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sequel has been written! If you're interested, check out my fic "Beneath the Mask".


End file.
